‘The future is bright’: breeding programme brings world’s heaviest insect back from the brink

Wētāpunga can weigh as much as a mouse and its numbers dwindled across New Zealand due to predators and habitat loss The population of New Zealand’s endemic wētāpunga – believed to be the world’s heaviest insect – is officially “recovering” thanks…
Read the full story at The Guardian ↗
ImpactNotable 33/100
Why it mattersRule-based estimate: no strong signals; trust 8/10.
RegionsUnited Kingdom
Published2 h ago (Mon, 05 Oct 2026 05:19:45 GMT)
RetrievedMon, 05 Oct 2026 06:00:19 GMT via rss
ClassifiedMon, 05 Oct 2026 06:00:35 GMT by heuristic
AuthorEva Corlett in Wellington